Maryland State House

Story reprinted from Roofing/Siding/Insulation, February, 1979 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

Mechanics for a Baltimore-based roofing company kept their slate techniques sharp enough to tackle the restoration work of the Maryland State House.

Maryland’s Historical Society has guarded the colonial elegance of the State House art Annapolis since George Washington resigned his commission there. Any restoration work there must meet the societies stringent building requirements. One requirement, in effect right now, states that only roofers with proven experience and experienced men can undertake the restoration of the slate roof.

Charles F. Ruff and Co., Inc. won the reroofing contact because it has years of slate experience. One company mechanic worked on the building the last time sections were reroofed, and that was 50 years ago. At 70, he still punches-in everyday.

Fifty years experience is unusual, even for a Baltimore- based company, but all of Ruff’s slaters have at least five years experience with the company. Experience is essential because crews test the sharpness of their slate techniques on approximately 20 percent of the company’s calls. They cut and handle stone on private homes, the Naval Academy buildings and restoration work like the State House.

“Slate works in spells.” ,says Charles Ruff. “ We have quite a bit coming up this year. Last year we didn’t. But when a good year does come up, we are ready with the experience we have on the payroll. We need it for the specialty work like the State House dome.”

Slate isn’t the only thing that works in spells. Right now Ruff has to sit out the winter because the legislature asked him not to work from December 30 to March 1, while it is in session. Even so, Ruff never expected to be on the roof now when he started the job in August. But he has no choice. His men may be ready to go, but the material itself is still part of a big rock.

Ruff found the slate to do the State House job in a quarry in Arvonia, Va. Run by the Buckingham Slate Co. Buckingham is a premium, black slate and the closest match to the old roof available. But the slate company is as much as 60 days behind in getting deliveries to Maryland.

“At times we have not been able to work for two weeks at a shot because we didn’t have the material. I call them everyday, and everyday they tell me the same thing, they are having trouble getting it out,” Ruff says.

Al Saunders from Buckingham blames last winters’ bitter temperatures for the delay.. He says the quarry filled with ice and put the company behind in its deliveries.

Although the crews are off the roof for two months, which is enough time to build up an inventory, the quarry will go through another fierce winter. Ruff will probably have to wait until March 1 to find out if the job will be done by the July 4^th celebration. He can’t go to another quarry, because once slate is picked, the roofer has to stay with that quarry. It is impossible to get a match from two different quarries.

So for the winter, Maryland lawmakers and political observers will continue to wonder why the building where the Continental Congress considered the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War, is perpetually under construction.

The three scaffolds that run up the side of the building may seem like the most permanent fixtures in the capitol. Each scaffold’s Smith Hoist and Mono-Rail hoist carries the slate from the ground to the 265 square roof, which is topped off with a dome that must also be reroofed.

Mechanics began the State House job by tearing off the existing slate with claw hammers. Some of the material has served the building since the turn of the century. Once the slate was off the roof, Bilco fasteners on 24 in. centers attached 1 in. x 4 in., treated furring strips to the tile deck.

	Duo-fast screw-type nails secure 5/8 in. thick treated plywood to the furring strips. Applicators applied GAF’s 30lb. Asphalt saturated felt to the plywood using roofing cap nails. The roof at this point was prepared to receive the slate.

Slate arrives on pallets in individual shingles cut 11 in. x 22in. for work on the bottom portions of the roof and 8 in. x 12 in. for the three sections of the dome. Mechanics start at the bottom and lay the slate in an overlapping configuration, using two copper nails, 1 ½ in. long, to hold the shingles on the sloped portion of the roof.

Slaters use a stake, a T shaped tool, to trim shingles to the appropriate size for corners and perimeters. By placing a shingle on the stake, tracing a line along the bottom with a claw hammer, the slater can chip off the undesired part of the shingle.

Dome application is different and accounts for some of the delay in getting deliveries. The original specifications called for re-laying of the old slate on the dome.

“To re-lay old slate, it must be removed from the roof, mixed with new materials and then reapplied. On this particular job, we had trouble because the old slate is thinner than the new material. The mechanics had problems working the two of them together. I had to convince the Historical Society to use all new slate on the job. And that put us further behind in deliveries,” Ruff says.

With enough slate on hand, the other slater trims off two corners of the shingle to make it conform to the contour of the dome. He applies roofing cement to the underlayment and then with two 2 in. copper nails through pre-drilled holes secures the shingle to the dome.

Sixteen once lead coated copper takes care of the flashing requirements at roof perimeters and around intrustions. The largest intrustions are two 14 ft. x 33 ft. skylights above each of the congressional chambers. Original plans called for the covering of the skylights with plywood if the legislature was in session when repairs were in progress. Two other skylights, 16 ft. x 18 ft will also be replaced.

Projected work on the skylights conforms to Historical Society requirements for accuracy. But the company could not do the specialty work on the wooden railing that surrounds the dome. Portions were sent to Campbellville Industries in Ky. As models for an exact replica fabricated in white, precast aluminum. The railing cost $48,000.00.

Slate skills are only a part of the Ruff roofing story. The company’s “bread and butter” work is in BUR, single ply, residential shingles, and restaurants. The 40-person company, works with 15 sub-contractors who do such things as assemble the scaffolding on the State House. In 1978, 60 percent of the company business was in commercial roofing and 40 percent in residential work. The 1979 working season figures to be pretty much the same with the company leaning toward reroofing rather than new construction.